Building My First Gaming PC

[Codess]

I am attempting to do my first custom built computer and want to know if i have all the right components as well as that those components are compatible.

APPROXIMATE PURCHASE DATE: within the month BUDGET RANGE: 1200-1500$

SYSTEM USAGE FROM MOST TO LEAST IMPORTANT: Gaming, internet, movies, storage

PARTS NOT REQUIRED: Starting totally from scratch

PREFERRED WEBSITE(S) FOR PARTS: hoping to get most if not all from newegg.com

Here is a link to my shopping list that has all the main hardware i am putting in it.

http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?Submit=view

OVERCLOCKING: Most likely will be overclocking it. SLI OR CROSSFIRE: Possibly in the future but not necessarily


ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Basically I am going for a gaming computer that will be affordable and yet have great performance. Any suggestions?

 

[mlcloud]

Unfortunately we can't view that link except through your computer unless you figure out how to upload that wishlist onto Newegg's public domain... In the meantime, maybe screenshots will work better?

 

[Why_Me]

Like the above poster said, maybe take a screen shot of it and then host it on imageshack and then link us.

 

[Codess]

Oh that is totally weak and also pretty lame on my part lol. Here is a parts list.

Case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129042

Hard drive: Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-MA790X-UD4P AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128387

Graphics Card: EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475

Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011

Ram: Crucial 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148246

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Deneb 3.2GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache Socket AM3 125W Quad
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

Addition Fan: XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

Monitor: ASUS VH222H Black 21.5" 5ms HDMI Widescreen 16:9 Full HD 1080P LCD Monitor Built in Speakers 300 cd/m2 1000:1
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236053


I have also included these others into my build.

DVD burner:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136144

Wireless Card: I need this because running an ether net cable is not possible in my current system.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315078

Sound Card: I assume that this is fairly necessary.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829270006

Multi Card Reader:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208458

OS: Windows Vista 64bit


Hopefully you all can open these links up and see what I am attempting to build. Let me know if I will need anything else to make my system run or if there are components that just plain suck.

 

[Why_Me]

Not bad but you have an Nvidea card in that build, that mobo only handles "Crossfire" aka dual ATI cards. Your RAM is wrong, and that's not a good case for dual vid cards of that size. Np though because with your budget I'm going to post you a killer i7 build using a lot of your components from that build. Give me about 15 min and I'l have it up here.

 

[Why_Me]

Add another of those vid cards later on and your unstoppable. ...also I would hold off for now on purchasing a sound card. Chances are your going to be satisfied with the on board sound.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $69.99 Free Shipping*
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011 $109.99 ($89.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P $222.99 | $207.99 after rebate | Free Ground Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CorssFireX & 3-Way SLI/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

https://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/product.php?productid=16135&cat=282&page=1" $ 280.00
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 Socket 8MB Cache CPU D0 Stepping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 $239.99 ($219.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Free Cryostasis game w/ registration at manufacturer website

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247 $94.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $74.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 $23.99
LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208458 $14.99
Transcend TS-RDP8K USB 2.0 All-in-One Multi Card Reader - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315078 $34.99
EDIMAX EW-7728In IEEE 802.11b/g, IEEE 802.11n Draft 32bit PCI Wireless 802.11n Draft 2.0 PCI Card Up to 300Mbps Data Rates WEP 64/128, WPA, WPA2 Cisco CCX V1.0, V2.0 & V3.0 Compliance - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009167 $229.99 Free Shipping*
Acer H243Hbmid 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 40000:1 Max (ACM) Built in Speakers - Retail

Total: $1,346.89 | $1,291.89 w/mail in rebates

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s until March 2010 and dl the 64 bit version of Windows 7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374 <--- more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that Gigabyte UD4P mobo used in this build

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=584 <---short review on that D0 stepping i7. It runs cooler than the older C0 stepping i7's

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11773&Itemid=1 <--- that's one way you can tell if you have a D0 stepping cpu or not

 

[Codess]

Thank you very much Why_Me, This setup looks awsome! One question thought, is the i7 a better CPU than the AMD 955 Black. The stock processing power reads 3.2Ghz as compared to 2.66 Ghz on the i7. Also the AMD has been seen overclocking at upwards of 4.6Ghz and it is slightly cheaper. So the question is, why wouldnt you go with the AMD 955 Black?

 

[Why_Me]

Thank you very much Why_Me, This setup looks awsome! One question thought, is the i7 a better CPU than the AMD 955 Black. The stock processing power reads 3.2Ghz as compared to 2.66 Ghz on the i7. Also the AMD has been seen overclocking at upwards of 4.6Ghz and it is slightly cheaper. So the question is, why wouldnt you go with the AMD 955 Black?

The day the AMD see's 4.6GHz on air is the day I personally eat my shorts one piece at a time. That build I posted will clock upwards to 3.8 or better with that new D0 stepping cpu. i7's when over clocked eat up and spit out any over clocked AMD out there. The AMD's are a Corvette to the i7's Ferrari. That build I posted is an AMD Killer.

* Me waites for the AMD fan club to reply on here so I can post some links to a few benchmarks....he he

 

[mlcloud]

Think about how "efficient" something can be. The i7 is more "efficient" than the Phenom II series (like the 955) are. The i7 is capable of processing through double the threads of the 955, has more IPC (Instructions Per Clock, and so its just faster than the Phenom II clock-to-clock.

And also, the i7 is hugely overclockable... if you can handle the heat somehow.

But yeah, in the end, the Phenom II is probably better performance for the money, but the i7 920 is just an amazing processor.

 

[blackhawk1928]

Add another of those vid cards later on and your unstoppable. ...also I would hold off for now on purchasing a sound card. Chances are your going to be satisfied with the on board sound.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137 $69.99 Free Shipping*
COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341011 $109.99 ($89.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate)
PC Power & Cooling S75CF 750W EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Retail

http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=MB-EX58U4P $222.99 | $207.99 after rebate | Free Ground Shipping
GIGABYTE GA-EX58-UD4P Core i7/ Intel X58/ DDR3/ CorssFireX & 3-Way SLI/ A&GbE/ ATX Motherboard

https://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/product.php?productid=16135&cat=282&page=1&#034; $ 280.00
Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz LGA 1366 Socket 8MB Cache CPU D0 Stepping

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029 $39.99
XIGMATEK Dark Knight-S1283V 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003 $4.99
Tuniq TX-2 Cooling Thermal Compound - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130475 $239.99 ($219.99 after $20.00 Mail-In Rebate) Free Shipping*
EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR GeForce GTX 275 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Free Cryostasis game w/ registration at manufacturer website

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231247 $94.99 Free Shipping*
G.SKILL 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136319 $74.99 Free Shipping*
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136152 $23.99
LG Black 22X (CAV) DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X (CAV) DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA 22X DVD±R DVD Burner - OEM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820208458 $14.99
Transcend TS-RDP8K USB 2.0 All-in-One Multi Card Reader - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833315078 $34.99
EDIMAX EW-7728In IEEE 802.11b/g, IEEE 802.11n Draft 32bit PCI Wireless 802.11n Draft 2.0 PCI Card Up to 300Mbps Data Rates WEP 64/128, WPA, WPA2 Cisco CCX V1.0, V2.0 & V3.0 Compliance - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824009167 $229.99 Free Shipping*
Acer H243Hbmid 24" 2ms(GTG) HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 40000:1 Max (ACM) Built in Speakers - Retail

Total: $1,346.89 | $1,291.89 w/mail in rebates

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx?ITPID=mscomsc <--- Save yourself some money on an o/s until March 2010 and dl the 64 bit version of Windows 7

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128374 <--- more pics, specs, and customer reviews of that Gigabyte UD4P mobo used in this build

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=584 <---short review on that D0 stepping i7. It runs cooler than the older C0 stepping i7's

http://www.fudzilla.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=11773&Itemid=1 <--- that's one way you can tell if you have a D0 stepping cpu or not

^+1: For your budget you can make an awesome i7 build that can shred any game on 1080p:
-Only my suggestions are, spend some x-tra few bucks on a nice solid state drive as it will increase performance greatly( open applications fast and load games really fast, and boot extremely fast also)
-Otherwise that was an excellent build and Codess, all of your parts are coming from the very reliable and popular manufactures so you can be comfortable.

 

[Codess]

Thank you all for the help! I am sure this computer will kill. One last question though. How do I get Windows 7 onto my PC? I assume that the hard drive will come completely blank, so not entirely sure how I am going to get onto the internet to download W7. I could burn it to a CD, but if I do that will my computer recognize the DVD/CD drive and install it? I guess i lied because i have one further question (its my first build and I am very nervous about it), are there any really great websites that will show me exactly how to assemble the components once they arrive?

 

[tecmo34]

Install Windows 7 on a CD/DVD and when you are ready to boot up, have the BIOS set to boot from your CD/DVD drive. The Windows disk will be detected and start the instali process.

Check internet sites for How-To's but I attached a link to a YouTube video on how to build a pc.